In much the same way that people complain about there being ‘nothing’ good on TV, a similar criticism is leveled at the Web/Internet. I think that in both cases, it’s an empty argument. Have you ever flipped through your cable guide and noticed how many educational channels there are?
And the Web has a wealth of information. With a little searching, you can educate yourself on so many subjects, and in many cases, freely too. For example, Wikipedia is a great example of collected knowledge. Sure, many criticize it for inaccuracies, but I feel that in many cases, those arguments boil down to human opinions rather than ‘incorrect’ information. I know that I didn’t agree 100% with everything the professors at my 200-yr old college taught me! Why would (or should) Wikipedia be any different.
Now if you would like more methodical and teacher-driven courses, there are more than a few free options online today. Spearheaded by MIT years ago in the form of their OpenCourseWare project, other colleges and universities offer similar programs.
While MIT offers over 1900 courses online, here is a nice list of 100 courses geared to the geek (or wanna-be geek) in a number of categories including programming, information technology, the Web and more.